411’s TNA Conference Call Report 02.07.08: Karen Angle discusses WWE, TNA, Jeff Jarrett, Vince Russo and More!

Today’s TNA Conference Call with Karen Angle was her first full-length interview since joining TNA last August, and Karen seemed eager to share her thoughts on the way that joining TNA has changed not only her life, but that of her entire family as well. Karen’s transition from stay-at-home wife of a WWE Superstar to the on-camera wife of the TNA World Heavyweight Champion was a theme that ran throughout the interview. Life in the Angle family was difficult during her husband Kurt’s tenure in WWE. The WWE travel schedule was extremely grueling, and it wasn’t uncommon for Kurt to only be home four days a month. The intense travel schedule not only tore Kurt away from his family, but it also wreaked havoc on his body. The wear and tear on Kurt Angle’s body, compounded by the strain it was putting on his family, eventually lead Karen to plead with Kurt to leave WWE. “I think probably for the last three years he was with WWE, I begged him to quit,” she said today. “It was three years. It just wasn’t a healthy place for him to be at that time.”

But all of that changed in 2006 when Kurt Angle left WWE and debuted in TNA. The comparatively light TNA schedule gave Kurt the time he needed to reconnect with his family and heal his broken body, and for that Karen is immensely grateful to Dixie Carter. “TNA couldn’t have been more welcoming to Kurt and his dreams and ambitions,” Karen recalls. “I’ve told Dixie Carter that she’s been an angel to our family. She gave Kurt his life back.” The way that the TNA schedule has allowed Kurt’s body to heal is particularly amazing to Karen. “As I’ve said before, he has not been healthier than he is right now in eleven years. I can look at him and see him doing this for another ten or fifteen years. Do I think Kurt would be where he is today without TNA? Would he be this healthy without TNA? Hell no.”

TNA’s impact upon the Angle family expanded again last August when Karen joined Kurt as a regular on-screen character. Karen had originally suggested the idea of having her daughter Kyra appear on-screen with her father, but it was Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo that then persuaded Karen herself to step in front of the cameras. “In previous years, with WWE, it really just wasn’t an option for us. In WWE, that wasn’t the life I wanted to live, and it wasn’t the life I wanted my children to live. When I went to TNA, it was supposed to be just a short little thing, but it’s turned out to be incredible for me, for Kurt, and for our company.” Karen is especially grateful for the opportunity to be both a mother and a star in TNA. “Dixie allowed me to stay at home and have a career at the same time.” Karen’s transition from wife and mother to scheming valet came quite naturally to someone who has been a fan of professional wrestling her entire life. “I’ve actually been a fan a lot longer than Kurt has. Since the age of ten I’ve watched amateur and professional wrestling. I grew up watching Hulk Hogan and Dusty Rhodes with my grandfather.” But while Hogan and Rhodes may have sparked Karen’s initial interest in the business, it was the career of a pair of female legends that have guided her on-screen character development. “Every girl who has grown up watching wrestling wants to be an Elizabeth. And then at the other end of it you have Sheri Martel, who was the best valet in history.”

Still, you have to wonder how a stay-at-home wife and mother can suddenly become, as Christian Cage would say, a cougar in heat. Karen seems to give most of the credit to Vince Russo. “Vince Russo, I think, is an incredible writer. He’s very creative. Kurt will give me advice, but he lets me do what I think is right. Vince Russo points Karen Angle in the direction she needs to go.” That, of course, begs the question of whether or not Kurt approves of the direction in which Vince Russo has pointed Karen. “You know what? Kurt has an incredible relationship with Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo. Vince just pretty much knows what I’m capable of, what I can do. I really haven’t had to put in any more input than my acting.” But what Karen has been responsible for is taking Vince Russo’s ideas and turning them into compelling on-camera performances. For Karen, this was no small step the first time she stepped out from behind the curtain. “I was very nervous. I was standing backstage shaking. Every time I go out there, I don’t want to let Kurt down. I don’t want to let Jeff Jarrett and the fans down.” But when 411 asked Karen to name her favorite moment in TNA thus far, it was that first night she appeared on Impact that immediately sprang to her mind.

There have recently been rumors that the TNA Knockouts might be getting a television show of their own, and it would only seem natural to have Karen Angle play a key role on any such programming. However, Karen had not heard any mention of a Knockouts television show until 411 mentioned it to her, and she seems more than hesitant to step into the ring with some of TNA’s more accomplished female grapplers. “Have I paid my dues? Yeah, because I’ve been married to Kurt Angle. But I’m not at the level of a Kong or an ODB,” she admits. “It’s just that I don’t think it would be my place to step into the ring with these women who have worked so hard to be where they are.” However, when 411 asked Karen who she would most like to work with in TNA, her immediate response was ODB. “I think ODB is incredibly, incredibly entertaining.” Karen clearly understands that there is a role for women in TNA other than just as in-ring competitors, but she is also careful to keep that role from crossing the line. “You know, you’re watching a show that’s on from nine to eleven at night. Being a wrestling fan, and seeing the things that have been on other wrestling shows, but I don’t think we’ve reached that point. I’ve done some risqué photo shoots, and would I ever get in the ring dressed like that? No.”

TNA has been running an increasing house show schedule as of late, but Karen has found a way to work within the framework of that schedule. “Because of having the kids I don’t do the house shows. I do the t.v.’s, but even with the house shows the schedule is no where near WWE. Kurt isn’t working even half the dates he did when he was with WWE.” And when Kurt is at home, Karen understands that business may still be on his mind. “You have to have two separate lives. One of the problems with Kurt is that he’s always thinking about what he can do next, always thinking about the next opportunity. Sometimes I have to tell him to stop thinking about he business and remember he’s home with his family.” But in the end, it may not even be possible to totally separate the life of the Angle family from the world of professional wrestling. When 411 asked Karen what she would do if her own children one day wanted to pursue a career in the industry, Karen quick to say that she would whole-heartedly support her children’s dreams and aspirations… as long as they were working for TNA.

Karen also made sure to touch upon the growing connection between professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. She admitted that Kurt’s first inclination upon leaving WWE was to pursue a career in MMA, but at the time she didn’t feel as though his body was ready for that kind of abuse. But Kurt’s body has had time to heal during his stay in TNA, and now Karen isn’t ruling out anything in Kurt’s future. In fact, she even had some strong words concerning a hypothetical MMA fight between Kurt and Brock Lesnar. “Kurt could kick Brock’s ass. Kick his ass,” she repeated emphatically. “I’m sure that everyone has heard where Kurt and Brock went at it in the ring a couple of years ago. Anyone who was actually there that day can tell you that Kurt went into that ring with flip-flops on and continued to take Brock down over and over and over again.”

The most striking aspect of the call was just how happy and content Karen Angle seems to be at this stage in her life. Her husband’s move to TNA saved both his life and their family, and her addition to the TNA roster has provided her with more opportunities than she ever thought possible. Throughout the interview she continually praised TNA and the contributions of Dixie Carter, Jeff Jarrett, and Vince Russo. 411 asked Karen about the growth of TNA including the Global Impact Special and the rumored start of live episodes of Impact, and Karen was clearly enthusiastic about the future of the company she loves. But it was when she would, from time to time, return to the discussion of her family and how much she loves to spend time with them that Karen Angle seemed most proud of her accomplishments. You have to be happy for a woman who has a such a loving family and such an exciting career… and a husband who could kick Brock Lesnar’s ass.

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